—- Te : a Ce ee ee ee ee | fe eff)THE ROLEPLAYING GAME OF THE DARK FUTURE ar ee GAMES les Jn SA Games, Inc. P.O. Box 7356, Dept H, Berkeley, CA, 94707,Cast & Crew Writers Matteo Resinanti Mike Pondsmith Mike Hernandez Colin Fisk Will Moss Layout & Design Scott Ruggels Matt Anacleto Dave Friedland Mike Pondsmith Mike Blum (Screamsheets) Diana "Fritz" Goldman Screamsheets: Janet Piercy Cover & Ted Talsorian Doug Anderson Art Recovery: Mike MacDonald Illustration Typography Justin Chin Diana "Fritz" Goldman Paolo Parente Ted Talsorian Chris Hockabout Sam Liv Editing Riccardo Crosa Will Moss ‘Angelo Montanini Derek Quintanar Scott Ruggels Mike Pondsmith R.TALSORIAN GAIVIES Lule P.0.Box 7356, Berkeley, CA USA 94706 Copy 1600, 186, 1988 by Rabon Games, Ie. AL gin Reson. Cybopunt® ie Rass ‘rddanr nana or saver gare tb sn sen iba wea Maun Chrmaboo ene Nght rt {dears of Rl Garo, eA Pigs Rese tne’ Unreal Copyright Career. A eet, ‘Sato and porn ponayee win wo texerl ard ony sma wasters fracas ng ot Seedy concen Lisa Pondsmith Janet Piercy Fiddly Bits: Ed Bolme Playtesters ‘Anders Swenson Mike Blum, Chris Hockabout Kevin DeAntonio Thaddeus Howze Barton Bolmen Sean Fitzpatric Steve Isom Lucien Stalls lan Studebaker Magnus Seder Rob Pruden Brian Perry Jesse VanValkenburg Charlie Moore Steven Lorenz Eric Huber Randy Roosa To Lisa. What a long, strange trp i's been! CP 3002 ISBN 0-937-279-13-7Soe Se Soul & The New Machine Roles: Special Abilities Rockerboys Solos Netrunners| Techies12 Medias 14 Cops 16 Corporates 18 Fixers 20 Nomads 24 Getting Cyberpunk Character Points Statistics Fast & Dirty Expendables 30 Tales From the Street (Lifepath) ..33 Origins & Style 34 Family Background, 35 Motivations & Lite Events 36 Big Problems, Big Wins 37 Friends & Enemies 38 Romantic Life 39 Working. Skill Checks Starting Skill 43 Career Skil List 4a Master Skill List 45 Pickup Skills 46 Skill Descriptions 46-53 Learning New Skills 33 IP Multipliers 33 Getting More IP 5a Inventing New Skills sa Reputation 54 Getting Fitted For the Future ....57 Starting Funds 37 Encumberance. 59 Weapons 60 Weapons List 61-62 Weapons Descriptions 62-63, Old Guns. 66 Armor 67 Special Equipment 67 2020 Gear List 68 Gear Descriptions 69.71 Putting the Cyber Into the Punk...72 Cyberfashion 72 Cyberpsychosis 73 Humanity Costs 74 Cybertechnology 75 yberware List| 76:79 Surgery Codes 75 Fashionware 80 Neuralware 80 Implants 83 Bioware 85 Cyberweapons 85 Cyberoptics 86 Cyberaudio 87 Cyberlimbs 88 Cyberlimb Cyberweapons 1 Linear Frames. 91 Body Plating 92 Running Out of Cash 93 Friday Night Firefight ... 196 Rounds & Turn Order 97 Initiative 97 Fast Draw 97 Actions 98 More Than One Action 98 Two Weapon Attacks 98 Ambushes & Backstabs 98 Line of Sight/Facing 101 Damage 101 Hit Locations 101 Armor 101 Cover 102 Body Type Modifier 103 Wounds 103, StunyShock Saves 104 Death Saves 104 ‘Attacks 104 Ranged Weapons 105 Automatic Weapons 106 Unusual Ranged Weapons.....107 Beam Weapons 108 Area Effect Weapons 108 Shotguns 108 Grenades 108 Flamethrowers 108 Rocket Powered Grenades «00110 Missiles no Explosives 310 Molotov Cocktails m Melee Attacks m Martial Arts & Brawling my Dodging nz Partying nz Melee Damage m2 Monoknives, Mono Katanas & ‘Slice! Dice 2 Vehicies in FEF m2 Vehicle Combat 12 Vehicle Damage 13 Trauma Team ns Stabilization us Death State us Healing 116 First Aig 16 Medical Tech 16 Speed Healing Drugs 7 Nanotech ne Elective Surgery 8 Replacement Surgery ng Trauma Team™ n9 Body Banks 120 Vat Grown Tissue Banks 120 Bodysculpting 120 Exotic Fashion 121 rt gs ener sevens 122 Building Your Own 123, Netrunner 17 Geography 128 Islands of the Net 129 Regions 129 Long Distance Links 13 Wilderspace 13 NetWateh 131 Bulletin Boards (88S) 131 Net Gear 132 Interfaces, 132 ICONS 132 Interface Plugs 132 Cyberdecks 132 Improving Your Deck 134 Deck Options 134 Programs 137 Live Link Up 1a Program List 143-143, Running the Net 144 Security Levels, 144 Tracing 145, Subgrids 149 The Menu 149 Combat 149 Initiative 151 Turns & Actions 151 Range 152 Movement 152 Stealth & Evasion 152 Attacks Against Systems/Decks 152 Anti-personnel Attacks 153 Anti-IC Attacks 153, Controllers & Utilities 153 Designing Data Fortresses 154 Playing Artfcial Intelligences 155 Fast Fortress Construction 164 Programming 101 167 Virtually There 170-174 All Things Dark & Cyberpunk ....175 Future Shock. 176-185 ‘Running Cyberpunk 186-189 Never Fade Away: A Cyberpunk Story/Adventure 190-203 Megacorps 2020. 1-204-208, Corporate Profiles 209-214 Night City 215-219 Encounters 220-221 Personalities 222-223 Face of the City .. 224-231 Screamsheets .. seve 232-250ROLES Pe eat y LIFEPATH TASK & SKILLS WEAPONS rit te) bel CYBERWEAR Pees bis) tee Da i CyVIEW FROM THE EDGE THE VIEW FROM THE EDGE As a Cyberpunk, you grab technology by the throat and : val hang on. You've got interface plugs in your wrists, nae weapons in your arms, lasers in your eyes. biochip pro- 82" grams in your brain. You become the car you drive, the yo vans be 2 Gierav? or maybe just look gun you shoot...With cyborged fingers you pick com- cee puter locks; with enhanced senses, you see into the Lomiedeierte Future. telyou.Fistfal) the term cybernetic and machine technol nuson of lesh | violence, rebellion and the popularized in the Pre-Cat by a group of writers who spe in wating ition Fisoura chetypical cyberpunk heroes ofthe 80's ranged. trom technobarbarians TH E N EW e ae therein 2020, this alllooks pretty A baby accessed isarticle x personal database You used a Kiyoshiru 13008 interface cable with your wrlstplugs. You'e used to hard coffee, "5 f Theworldof Cyberpunkisa violent, they can. Whether it takes committing Understand—in 1987, dangerous place, filled with people <‘imes, delying authority or even outright | ear hae | who dloveto rip your arm off and "ior thequntessental jberamkchr. re ib na | ris a rebel (Gee cohiee Canteraiee cna eat it. The traditional concepts of aoe ee | idvalkdopnmestaly | good and evil are replaced by the PINWENPREN SY a Cyberpunkrole. | ani eee values of expedience—youdowhat RP eR ey plzer, its up to you have to do to survive. If you : you to find that | No" can do some good along the way, [akeebipdmiegg —©2use and go to 1984 when the Eur-Combines estab, great. PELL S the wall with it, | lished the Word Stock Exchange and the economies ofthe United states and ra But don’t count on it. BARRIS Thisistheessence | Patient of Cyberpunk— tke a Cyberpunk characters are survivors in a playinayourchor- tough, grim world, faced with fe and acter with the death choices, Howthey makethesechoices proper dissected, cynical-yetideastic stl willhave alot to do with whether they end Whether you'tea biker with eatheredskinand | SSNs. 4% long. up as vicious animals roaming a ruined metalclaws, oradebutanteinsatinsportingthe | Moscow end Washington, world, oF retain something of their basic latest in designer cyberoptics, you're going to | r>bably evidhavng the nucle humanity. Cyberpunk characters ate the needa certain panache —a certain fir in por. | avonesbeenexzectrgsnce 1944 heroes of a bad situation, working to make traying yourself. To achieve the essence of the it better (or at least survivable) whenever 2000's, you need to master three concepts: | Now, of course, everything's more orVIEW FROM THE EDGE less un by the Corporations, which are pretty much governments in them> | Seives. You can go anywhere on one | passpon—oneworidism atitsbest. The {currencies of mostnationsare stabilized to each other, and the Eurodolla is @ world currency. Hardly anyone com ins anymore about Corporate Lie- | fime Contracts or the abolition of unions: ’'sthe price of ving na stable, | sate society, right? ‘Afterall you could be living in the Projects, Sinteen people to an apar- sharing ration chips every week | te buy food, with eight thousand ‘apartments per city block? Sure, itisn't the best life, what with the booster: ‘gangsroaming the Malsand the major Teague crime problems, but it beats actuallybeing on the Street Atleastthe mega-arcologies ave cops (okay, Fented Corporate cops, Dut its easier than fronting the euro fer your own personal Solal). Besides, the media ets make sure that every apartment has direct cable access to TV, radio and fensory feed, s0 there's always semething o do on a Saturday night tobe a Cyberpunk Here's more background for you to think over. When the grand old Mas- ters of the Movement ist started ‘wating the cyberpunk gente, they as sumed that most of the things they ‘wrote about would either never hap pen or would happen in the far future No one knew thatthe Wert Germans ‘were already developing “organic” ci- ‘uity in the late 1980's, of that the United States Air Force was developing mentally controlled weapons systems | Syrthetie myomar muscle fibres were | just starting to be used to contro! prosthetics, and very few people could project ahead into the 1990's when Srganic chipped arms and legs would be possible, There were afew primitive ‘experiments with bioengineering — things ike Frostban™ end a few new types of comn—nothing lke the bio engineered animale hat we'll use to tertaform the Martian colonies. It took about filteen years for the newech to catch up with the vision Fist, the miltary started using ey: bertechnalogy to create “perfect sol ier and pilots, Some of the spin-off led to prosthetic limbs, eyes and other body parts. Organic circuitry led to Grecthookupe between men and com puters. Combined with advanced tle: ‘Communications technology and sat- elite dowriinks, the basis for the now planetwide Net, was established. As tach new technologieal advancement slammed into place, a sort of cultural techaoshock sti, 1) Style over Substance It doesn’t matter how well you do some- thing, as long as you look good doing it. If you're going to blowit, make sure you look like you planned it that way. Normally, clothes and looks don’t matter in an ad- venture—in this world, having a leather armor jacket and mirrorshades is a serious consideration. 2) Attitude is Everything It's truth. Think dangerous; be dangerous. Think weak; be weak. Remember, every- | one in the 2000'sis carrying Where were we? Oh yeah—you want | lots of lethal hardware and high-tech enhancements. ‘They won't be impressed by yournewH&Ksmartgun Uniess you swaggerinto the club looking like you know how to use it—and are just itching for an excuse. Never walk into a room when you can stride in Never look at someone Unless you can make it your best "killer" look. Use your best "!'m bad and you aren't." smile. Don’t sit around the flat or cube waiting for the next job, Get on out and hit the clubs and hangouts. Make sure you're where the party starts 3) Live on the Edge The Edge is that nebulous zone where risk takersand hightidersgo. On the Edge, you'll risk your cash, your rep, even your life on something as vague as a principle or a big score. As a cyberpunk, you want to be the action, start the rebellion, light the fire. Join great causes and fight for big issues. Never drive slow when you can drive fast. Throw yourself up against danger and take it head on. Never piay it too safe. Stay committed to the Edge. ROLES: The Core of CYBERPUNK Role-playing The world of Cyberpunk isa combination of savage, sophisticated, modern and retro- grade. Fashion-model beautiful Techies rub shoulderswith battle armoredroadwarriors, all of them making the scene in the hottest | dancectubs,sleaziestbarsandmeaneststrets ans "1) Style Over po cts rot a a 3) Always take it BR Ce Pe tty this ide of the Postholocaust. Each character in this world is playing a Role—a face that person projects to the outsice world as the real thing. There are 9 Roles in Cyberpunk Rockerboys, Solos, Netrunners, Corpo- rates, Techies, Cops, Fixers, Medias, and Nomads. As a Cyberpunk player, you must select one role for your character. ‘SPECIAL ABILITIES Special Abilitiesare skis usable only by specific character Roles; for example, Rockerboys have the Special Ablity of Charismatic Leadership, ‘which represents the vast amount of power they have over their legions of fans, When usinga Special Abily, you will add i's value tothe specific statas if it were a ski Rockerboy Special Ability: Charismatic Leadership. This skill allowstive Rockertosway crowds equal to his BA ability level squared, EM times 200 —Ripperjack Solo Spectal Ability: Combat Sense. Added to all Initiative and Awareness checks, this makes the Solo the fastest reacting person in a situation. Netrunner Special Ability: Interface. This Skil reflects the Netrunner's ability to manipulate Interface programs, and is the skill used when operating Menu functions such as Locate Remote, Run Software, Control Remote, LDL Link, Load, Create and Delete. Other players can enter the Net, but can't use the Menu. Techie Special Ability: Jury Rig. This general repair skill allows the Techie to tem- porarily repair oralter anything for 1D6 turns per level of skill Medtech Special Ability: Medical Tech Thisis the skillused to perform major surgery and medical repairs Media Special Ability: Credibility. The ability to have people believe what you are saying while in your on-air persona,VIEW FROM THE EDGE Cop Special Ability: Authority. The ability to intimidate or contro! others through your position as a lawman, This represents the Corporate's ability to ‘command corporation resources, Itis used as a persuasion skill, based on the scale of resources requested, Fixer Special Abillty: Streetdeal. The ability to locate people, information, etc Thisis a higher form of making a connection (Lifepath, pg. 27); instead of knowing only one person, you have connections every- where. In game play, a successful use of Streetdeal allows you to locate and acquire a desired person, place or thing, Nomad Special Ability: Family. This allows the Nomad to call in as many Family members to aid him as his current Fomily Ability level x 2. A SPECIAL NOTE ABOUT THIS PRINTING Ahem! It's NOT a Third Edition. In this reprint, we've taken extra time to fix al the corrections and typos we could find, plus squared away a few of the problems and inconsistencies. But these rules are the same rules you've been using since the 2020edition ofthe game wasprinted But there is one big change— the art. One of the great joys of publishing international editions is that sometimes your licensors come up with cool stuff ‘youreally wish you'd putinto your game. ‘The new art in this printing is from the great guys at Stratelibri, who publish the italian Cyberpunk (many thanks to Paolo, Matteo, Riccardo, Angelo, Silvio and of course, Giovanni). We hopeallof youout there like it as much as we did! —Maximum Mike Technoshock: When technology out | Strips people’ ability to comprehend | orftitintotherlves Sudden, people freak out. They get iational violent. shatter relationshipstearapar. feel helpless inthe face of the Universe Eventually, the whole society fgrinds to a halt, the victim of @ mags psychosis. That's what we now call the Collapse There were three major responses to. | technoshock. The vast majority of | people, their lives uprooted and Ehanged by the advancements, sat | passively wating for thet leadersto ell | them what to do next. One smaller | {gfeup tied to tuen back the clock, | founding the bass for what we call the NeosLuddlte movement. The eemain ing gtoup—they decided to hit the | future head on. With the old 1960's | visionary writings as thei guide, they established the movement wenow ca Cyberpunk Okay, s9 now you're ready. Asacyberpunk,yougrabtechnology by the throat and hang on. You're not afraid to check out the newest in "enhancements", cybertech and bio- | engineering You've gotinteracepigs | in your wrists, weapons in your rms, Iasersin your eyes. biochip programsin your brain. You become the cat you ‘rive, the gyro you fy, the guns you ‘shoot. You dive headfirst into the Net, Using your mind te hurtiea ght alloveravastnetworkof DataFortesses and Artificial Intelligences. With yborged f locks ‘he most “in clathes, know the right people, and follow the right crowds You plan youterimesin the most select clubs and bars: your enemies are Corporate armies, cyborg bike gangs, power-armored assassins and Computerwired Netheads, Your weap: fons are nerve, steetimarts, bravado and the Minami 10 smarigun on your | hip. yberpunk'sabo an attitude. Youwesr | Are youready now? Of course you ar. You can't wat Now you're CyberpunkVIEW FROM THE EDGE OCKERBOYS —= REBEL ROCKERS WHO USE MUSIC AND REVOLT TO FIGHT AUTHORITY If you live to rock, this is where you belong, Rockerboys are the street poets, social con: sciences and rebels of the 2000's. With the advent of digital porta-studios and garage laser disk mastering, every Rocker with a message can takeit tothe street; putit in the record stores, bounce it off the comsats Sometimes, this message_is't something the Corporations or the Government wants to hear. Sometimes what you say is going to get ight in the faces ofthe powerful people ‘who realy runthisworld. Butyoudon'teare, because as a Rockerboy, you know it's your Sere — ot 2 SS place to challenge authority, whether in straight-out protest songs that tellit ike iis, fr just by playing kick-ass rock n’ roll to get the people away from the TV sets and into the Streets. You have a proud history as a Rockerboy—Dylan, Springsteen, Who, Elvis, the Stones—the legions of hardrock heroes who told the truth with screaming guitars and gut-honest lyrics As a Rockerboy, you have the power to get the people up—to lead, inspire and inform, ‘Asong from you can give the timid courage, the weak stren-gth, and the blind vision. Rockerboy legends have led armies against Corpo- rations and Governments. Rockerboy songs have ex- posed corruption, brought down dictators. I's a lot of power for a guy doing gigs every night in another city But you can handle it. After allyou came to play! _— aVIEW FROM THE EDGE | | "Lalways knew what I had to do. It was really obvious, There were these scum out there who were messing with the world. They were killing People, raping the land, and lying In our faces when we caught ‘em. "So I decided I had to put the heat on ‘em and make 'em sweat. That's why I became a Rockerboy. “Music always | gets hammered | down to the Three A's. Axe, Attitude | and Audience. Me, Thad an Axe and | an Attitude. All 1 | had to do was get the third one..." —Kerry Eurodyne, Rockerboy.VIEW FROM THE EDGE a HIRED ASSASSINS, BODYGUARDS, KILLERS, SOLDIERS You were re-born with a guninyourhand—the flesh and blood hand, not the metallic weapons factory that covers most of your other arm, Whether as a freelance guard and killer- for-hite, or as one of the Corporatecybersoldiersthat enforce business deals and the Company's “black op- erations”, you're one of the elite fighting machines of the Cyberpunk world Most Solos have puttin mili- tary time, either in a Corpo- rate army or in one of the Government's continual “police actions” around the world. As the battle dam- age piles up, you start to rely moreand tnore upon hardware—cyber- limbs for weapons and armor, bio-program chips to increase your reflexes and aware- ness, combat drugs to give you that edge over your opponents. When you're the best of the best, you might even leave the ranks of Corporate samurai and go ronin— freelancing your lethal talents askiller, body- guard or enforcer to whoever can pay your very high fees. Sounds good? There's a price—a heavy one. You've lost so much of your original meat body that you're almost a machine, Your killing reflexes are so jacked up that you have to restrain yourself from going beserk at any moment. Years of combat drugs taken to keep the edge have given you terrifying addictions. You can't trust anyone—your mother, your friends, your lovers—no one Onenight yousleep ina penthouse condo in the City—the next in a filthy alley on the Street. But that's the price of being the best ‘And you're willing to pay it. Because you're a Solo.VIEW FROM THE EDGE Bray “After | got out of the Army, | had this problem. I was good at what I did, but no one | was hiring. 1 mean, what do | you do when you're a highly trained killer with a background in demolitions? Read — the want ads? "After a few months on the Street, | got intoa dustdown with a local Booster lord. I flatlined him and went back to my drink. Within ten minutes, the recruiter from | Militech came up to me and | dropped a | business card... _ "Now l'ma Company man. The pay’'s good, the Work steady, and they pay for my spare parts. So far, I'm still alive. So far, so good.” Morgan BlackhandVIEW FROM THE EDGE At three, your parents bought you an old Apple IV GS with a Radius 247 wall screen, and your life was changed. By fifth grade, you'dalready masteredeverything the school computer literacy lab could throw at you ‘you were already using Cand META-LINGUA to crack into the district’s mainframe and change your grades. When you were thir- teen, youshifted enough funds out of unpro- tected TransAmerican Bank accounts to fi nance your first neural interface plugs Now, nothing can stop you. With your direct ‘mental ink to the computer, you can plunge CYBERNETIC COMPUTER HACKERS headfirst into the dizzying data-winds of the Net; the worldwide telecommu- nications system that joins humanity together. As an electronic wraith, you are the ultimate “hacker”, your brain wired into special modems and com- puter links. You stip into the “hardest” ‘mainframe systems with ease. Your de- fense and offense programsare arrayed at a touch of your mental fingertips—a quickjolt of Demon or Vampire and the data fortresses fall. EBM. ITT. Sony- Matsushita-Ford. You've tackled them all, buying, trading and selling their deepest secrets at wil Sometimes you uncover important things— Corporate treachery or deadly secrets. But that’s not why you Netrun. You live for the new program, the next satelite downlink— the next piece of hot data that comes your way. Is only a matter of time, you think every year, the counter intrustion programs get better, the Artificial Intelligences smarter. Sooner or later, a faster program or programmer's going to catch up; reach out with electronic fingers through your inter- face plugs, and stop your heart, But time’son yourside, anduntiltheriderunsout, you'llbe there, barebrained and headfirst in the Net.VIEW FROM THE EDGE er Ra "You guys who live in Realspace; you move so slow. Me, I like Netspace. It moves fast. You | don't get old, you don't get slow and sloppy. You just leave the meat behind and go screamin', "First system 1 ever hit, | think they had some weeflerunner playin’ Sysop for | them. I burned in, jolted the guy with a borrowed Hellbolt, and did the major plunder action all over the — Data Fortress. | | "Somewhere out there Is a guy with half his forebrain | burned out. 1 | wonder if they ever found the body. I wonder if they'll find mine the same way..." Spider Murphy |VIEW FROM THE EDGE | SOUL & THE MACHINE | Ras | You can’t leave anything | alone—ifit sits near you for more than five minutes, you've disassembled it and madeitinto somethingnew. You've always got at least two screwdrivers and a wrench in your pockets. Computer down? No prob- lem. Hydrogen burner out in your Metrocar? No prob- lem. Can’t get the video to run or your interface plugs feedacking? No problem, You make your living build- ing, fixing and modifying, a crucial occupation in a technological world where 1no one person really knows how half the stuff works. You ‘can make some good bucks fixing everyday stuff, but for the serious money, you need to tackle the big jobs. Illegal weapons. Illegal or stolen cybertech, Corporate espionage and counterespionage gear for the big boys’ “black operations”. Neat little gadgets like thermite bombs and and hunter-killer robots for the occasional “termination.” If you're any good, you're making a lot of money. And that money goes into new gadgets, hardware andinformation. You'll buy almost any new thing—because it might have a dozen side applications you can use. Of course, your black market work isn’t just making you friends—it's also racking you up an impressive number of enemies as well; people who've run into RENEGADE MECHANICS AND DOCTORS your handiwork and resented it. So you'll invest a lot in defense systems and, if really pushed to the wall, call in afew markers on a Solo or two. Your cousin down the street is just like you, buthe’sa Medtechie. Ina world where half of medicines related to mechanics, it makes sense, He can do a black market surgical technique faster than you can fix a toaster, and the Solos are always running to him to patch up wounds or install new legal cyber- netics. He’s got a lot of the same problems you have, but he’s hoping his new job with Trauma Team Inc.™ will loosen things up. Youhope he's right. You may be needing his services sooner than you thinkVIEW FROM THE EDGE es | "So you want me | tobuildadelay switch Into the thing? And you don't care about the explosion radius? "No problem. At least you got a simple Job. Last guy In here, he wanted me to build him a | eyberhand that had a bullt-in .naW, frack, you | don't wanna know. | | People want the weirdest stuff these days... "I hear with the new cyberwear they're coming up | with In Chiba, you're gonna be able to cram your body with more options than a frackin' Mercedes aerodyne...No | problem. If you can get parts, | can fix it. Count on It, chombatta.” Misti joad of D Technix ine. |VIEW FROM THE EDGE | outthere. And youre go. NEWSMEN AND REPORTERS WHO GO TO THE WALL FOR THE TRUTH ‘Theyrebendingthetruth ing to stop them, Some- cone has to do it. The Cor- porations rule the world, They dump toxics, desta- bilize economies and commit murder with equalimpunity. The Gov- emment won't stop them—they own theGov- emment. The only thing between the Corpora- tions and world domina- tion is the Media. And that's you. You've got a videocam and a press pass—and you're not afraid to use them. You're a national figure, seen nightly on a million TV sets worldwide, You'vegotfans, contracts and your own Corporation backing you. They can’t make you disappear. When you dig down for the dirt and slime the corrupt officials and Corporate lapdogs try to cover up, you can dig deep. The next moming, ‘youcan put thecletailsof theircrimes allover the screamsheets and vidscreens. Then the Government has to act A week ago, you followed a hot lead and discovered a medical corporation dumping legal drugson the Street. Thisweek, you're uncovering a secret Corporate war in South America—a war with jets, bombs, and cy- Dbertroops that’s killed almost seven thou- sand innocent people. Each new story you get to the air is one more blow for freedom and justice. Not to mention ratings. tisn’t easy. They've tried to pressure your Mediacorp dozens of times. You've had sto- fies suppressed—once, Corporate pressure forced them to cancel your news show. Each time, you went to the top, backed by your news director and your crew, and fought to get the story out. Three or four times, they tried to kill you—that’s why your backup’s a crack Solo bodyguard and you've got one of the top ‘Runners in the business digging through the Net to back your stories. You have to be good, or else. Your ‘Runner's just phoned in with a hot lead. He's found a line on twenty tons of ilegal weapons being shifted to a port in Bolivia—possibly nuclear. You grab your {gear and flag your backup. You're going to break those bastards This time, for sure.VIEW FROM THE EDGE | SOUL & THE MACHINE | Cada "Okay, so it's dangerous. Look, Vl tell you something. When I was a kid, bused to watch those reporters on the TV news. They wore those chill | trenchcoats and | were always | broadcasting from some exotic place like Mozambique or Saigon. They went right into the Central American warzones with the cybergrunts, and they got the story even when the shooting was maximally fierce. "That's the part I like; the danger." —Lyle McClellan, Network 54 |VIEW FROM THE EDGE CENTURY STREETS In the old days, they only used to shoot at cops. Now you're lucky ifyoujust take slug, | The Streetismean these days, filed withnew drugs, new gangs, and new weapons that make an M-16 look like a kid's toy. If you're on a City Force, you know how bad it is. You're carrying at least four high caliber weapons, mostof themfull-autotypes, wear- ing a Kevlar vest that'll stop 850 ft/lbs per square inch—and_ you're still outgunned and outflanked. Half the gangs are cyber to begin with—super speed, super reflexes, can see in the dark, carry weapons in their arms...The other half are freelance Corpo- rate mercs—gangs hired by the Corps to enforce their policies on the Street. And there you are—a beat cop or detective in an MAXIMUM LAWMEN ON MEAN 21ST armored squadcar, pa- trolling this jungle with the heavy predators. The Corporate Cops— now that’sthelife, Heavy ‘weapons, fullcombatar- mor, Trauma Team™ backup, AV-4 assault ve- hicles and gyrocopters with miniguns. But they only patrol the sectors of the City that the Government's licensed themfor. Thenice, clean sectors full of new office buildings and fancy res- taurants—where no jacked up psychopunkis going to ever go on a killing spree with an AK- 47. You get the bad sections, Burned out buildings and aban- doned cars, where every night is a new firefight and another great opportunity fora messy death, If you're really unlucky, you might draw PsychoSquad detail. PsychoSquad guys get the job of hunting down heavily armed and armored cyborgs who've flipped out. Sure, the PS guys have access to railguns, gyros and AVs. Buta cyberpsycho can walkthrough machine gun fire and not feelit. A lot of the Psycho Squad detectives are crazy them- selves. They load up with, boosted reflexes, get some monsterously huge guns, and go hunt the cyborgs solo. But you're not that crazy. Yet.VIEW FROM THE EDGE Br | "Drop It, punk. I don't wanna hear your life story, and I don't care what Society did to you. | I just wanna see that gun hit the | floor. Now... | —Before I give | you an extra nostril." Sgt. Max Hammerman NCPDVIEW FROM THE EDGE U3 | SLICK BUSINESS RAIDERS AND MULTI- MILLIONAIRES | | In the old days, they would have called you yuppie—a | hard driven, fast-track MBA | onhisway up the Corporate ladder. Sure, it's selling your | soul to the Company, but | faceit; the Corporationsrule | the Cyberpunk world. They control governments, mar- kets, nations, armies—you nameit. And you know that, whoever controls the Cor- porations controls every thing else Right now, your life as a junior executive is anything but easy. There are guys underneath you who'd kill | for a shot at your job. There are guys over you who'd kil tokeep yououtof theirjobs. And they're not kidding about the kiling—every up and comerin the Corporation has his own crew of Solos and Netrunners to cover his pet projects. Sabo- tage? Constantly. Bribery? Routine. Black- mail? Common. Promotion by assassina- tion? Always a possibilty. The stakes are that | high—one slip and you could be out on the Street with the rest of the trash. Or dead. And the projects your supervisors give you! Some are pretty straightforward; design a new productivity schedule for the Corporation's medical subsidiary. Some are pretty raw—send a black operations” team into the City to spread a designer plague so the Marketing team can clean up selling the vaccine. Last week, youleda mixed team of Solos, ‘Runners and Techies onaheadhunting run to kidnap a researcher from a rival com pany. The week before, your project was to steal plans for a new suborbital shuttle from the EuroSpace Agency (so that the Aero- space Division could copy the design and sell it to the Soviets), Youtold yourself you joined the Corporation to make it a better place—work from the inside, you said. But now you're notso sure. Your ideals are a little tarnished and things are getting pretty bleak. But you car’t worry about ethics now. You've got a report due in an hour, and it looks like that guy in Sales is planning to ice your database for good. You're gonna ice him firstVIEW FROM THE EDGE "Money. Yeah, I got money: anew BMW aerodyne, and a penthouse flat in the Corporate Zone. All the money ain't worth frack. You play this game for power. The power to get things done; to make the big decisions; to | affect things. You make a phone call, and the next thing you know, | you're telling the President of some bushleague Euronation that he'd better play it your way, or he's history. "That's why you play. That's why I'm with the Company." —An Unidentified CorporateVIEW FROM THE EDGE You realized fast that youweren’tever going to get into a Corporate job. And you didn’t think you were tough enough or crazy enough to be a Solo either. But as a small time punk, you knew you had a knack for figuring outwhat other people wanted, and how to getitfor them. Fora price, of course. Now your deals have moved past the nickle- and-dime stuffinto the big time. Maybe you ‘move illegal weapons over the border. Or steal and resell medical supplies from the Corporations. Perhapsyou'rea skill broker— DEAL MAKERS, SMUGGLERS, ORGANIZERS AND INFORMATION BROKERS acting as an agent for high priced Solos and “Runners, or even hiring a whole Nomad packtobacka client's contracts. Youbuyand sell favors like an old-style Mafia godfather. You have connections into all kinds of bus- nesses, deals and political groups. You don’t do this directly, of course—no, you use your contacts and allies as part of a vast web of intrigue and coersion. If there's a hot night- clubinthe City, you'veboughtintoit. there arenew military-class weaponson the Street, ‘you smuggled ‘em in. If there's a Corporate war going down, you're negotiating be- tween sides with an eye on the main chance. But you're not entirely in it for the bucks. If someone needs to get the heat off, you'll hide them. You get people housing when there isn’t any, and you bring in food when the neighbor- hoods are blockaded. Maybe you do it because ‘you know they'll owe you later, but you're not sure. You're one partRobin Hood and two parts Al Capone. Backin the 90's, they would have called you a crimelord. But this is the fragmented, nasty, deadly 2020s. Now they call you a Fixer.VIEW FROM THE EDGE Ered "Don't give me this "Robin Hood" stuff. I'm doin’ a Job, no more. I give people what they want, an' they pay me out. "Okay, so maybe leven a few scores here and there, but that's good for | business. You make a friend— they'll take you in when the Street's too hot, and they'll pass you a few bits of data when you call in the markers. But | that's business, "I got a slogan... "How much you pay me —Phil "Nacho" Hernandez FixerVIEW FROM THE EDGE CO ROAD WARRIORS AND GYPSIES WHO ROAM THE HIGHWAYS They drove your family off the Farm tenyearsago. The Corpo- rations rolled in, tookover theland, and put renta cops all over the place. It wasn’t the firsttimeite happened; it wouldn't be the last. Gradually, your family fell in with a bunch of other homeless families, and they met another group...until you'd created a Nomad pack of nearly two hundred mem- bers Now, crammed into a huge, ragtag fleet of cars, vans, buses and RV's, yourNomad pack roams the freeways. You look for supplies, odd jobs and spare parts in a world where society has fragmented. The pack is your home—it has teachers, Med Techs, leaders, and mechanics—it's virtually a town on wheels in which everyone is related by mar- riage or kinship. Sometimes the Pack pulls into a town just to fuel up or get grub. Other times, it swings south to follow the harvest; you pick cropsin trade for cash or food. Less law abiding Packs are like mobile armies, terrorizing cities and hiring out as muscle in Corporate wars. For obvious reasons, the cops don’t like Nomads. But it doesn’t mat- ter—your vehicles are usually well armored and bristlingwith stolen weapons; mini guns, rocket launchersandithelike. Every kid knows how touse arifle, and everyone packsaknife. Being homeless in the 2000's isn’t easy. ‘The mostvisible members of the Pack are the Scouts—leather armored riders on bikes or in fast muscle cars, who protect the convoy from attacks and hunt up safe campsites. As a Scout, you're on the lookout for trouble, and you usually can find enough of it, with rival Nomad Packs, the Law, and the Corporates all after you, Like a modern day cowboy, you ride the hard trail, You've gota gun, a bike and that’s all you need. You're a Nomad,VIEW FROM THE EDGE "Guns. Guns and cyberbikes. That's how we hold the line. We don't have any home | except the Caravan. We don't have any rights except what we | take. We get run out of town by the cops; we get | ralded by the readwarrior packs, and we survive because | we've got guns and bikes... "There's kids, old men and women— families here. This ain't no | boostergang. These people are my family." —Nomad SantiagoVIEW FROM THE EDGE Tyne ra aN | Le ee te Tarr E Py) ra) Cats ty Cent raya Ra TS]VIEW FROM THE EDGE "They were roaring in at top speed when they hit us. There must have been a hundred of them. We were pinned down and about to be turned into Ground Food Concentrate Number Fifteen. Then Razorjack popped the BigRipps, screamed like a banshee on steroids, and went right over the top of the lead cyberbike." | —Savage Doc Fi GETTING CYBERPUNK Headware is the hardware—the frame which allows the character to interface with the rules. Remember, the disk is not the software, and dice rolls are not your character. Don't get too caught up in the statistics. Character Points Character pointsare the cash of character creation—you use them to “buy” the vari- ous “mechan- ics” aspects of the character, like goodlooks, a strong, hard body, unshak- able cool and street smarts (butnot Skills), We've given you three ways to generate Character Points: 1) Random. Roll 9 D10 and total them. You have this many Character Points Cea LT Ped eee eed CM er ttn persona Uren a the Rules of the Game. 2) Fast: Roll 1D1 for each stat (in all), re- rolling any scores of 2or les. Place rolls in each stat as desired 3) Cinematic: This option is for Referees only. As the designer of the adventure, the Referee has the option of choosing the number of points for each character based ‘on its position in his or her game. Major Hero sopts Major Supporting Char... 70pts Minor Hero 75pts Minor Supporting Char... 60pts Average sopts | Note: We could, at this point, warn prospective Referees about the vari- ‘ous dodges their players will have for creating “supercharacters.” But face it; if they want to create a mondo character, who are we to stop them? You're all big boys and girls now, and if you, as Referee, think your players | are gettingway outaline, whynotjust | go ahead and waste ‘em? | That's the Cyberpunk way. et ee) Dice All systems in Cyberpunk use two types of dice; the common, garden variety six sided die (found in most popular games and in Las Vegas), and the more esoteric ten sided die (used exclusively by the Japanese Imperial Navy and in many roleplaying games). Dice are usually referred to in Cyberpunk as a“D", followed by the number of sides of the dice. For example, a normal 6 sided die would be referred to as a “D6”. There are a number of ways in which dice can be used, such as: * Rolling a group of dice together and adding the results (roll 306 would mean roll 3 six sided dice to get a value from 3 to 18). * Rolling one or more dice together and adding another value called a modifier to get a final value, expressed Gs 1D6+1, or 1010-2. * Rolling two ten sided dice together, designating one to mark the tens place and the other to mark the ones place (called rolling a percentage). Rounding and Modifying: In Cyberpunk, if you are asked to divide something and you come up with a decimal value, you will ‘automatically round the result down to the nearest whole number (such as 2.65352 becoming 2). Ifa ‘modified value (such as 16. 4) comes out equal to, or below zero, it Is automatically equal to 1 unless otherwise specified.